A conventional conveyance facility for suspended conveyance of articles is shown in WO01/068482. The conveyance facility shown in WO01/068482 is a suspended conveyor device including a first conveyor path, a second conveyor path, and traveling rails constituting the first conveyor path and the second conveyor path. The suspended conveyor device guides supports for goods to be conveyed, on the traveling rails. The suspended conveyor device includes a re-routing station for selectively re-routing the supports from the first (second) conveyor path to the second (first) conveyor path, or leaving the supports on the first (second) conveyor path.
The suspended conveyor device shown in WO01/068482 includes deflection drums and a conveyance circulation path like an elongated conveyor loop. The conveyance circulation path includes the traveling rails in a linear path region between the deflection drums. Each of the deflection drums has conveyor flanges. The deflection drum causes each of the conveyor flanges to engage with a groove formed on each of the supports, and thereby inherits the support traveling on the traveling rails for conveyance. A traveling direction of the support inherited by the deflection drum is changed according to rotation of the deflection drum.
In the conveyance facility shown in WO01/068482, however, the engagement of the support with the conveyor flange of the deflection drum is required to cause the deflection drum (rotating body) to inherit the support (conveyance unit) traveling on the traveling rails. Accordingly, the support itself needs to separately include an engaging portion (groove) for the conveyor flange of the deflection drum. Unfortunately, the support thus has a complex configuration.
The support itself needs to be synchronized to the rotation of the deflection drum for the engagement of the engaging portion (groove) of the support with the conveyor flange of the deflection drum. Unfortunately, conveyance control of the support thus becomes complex. In addition, strict adjustment of an installation height of the deflection drum is required in accordance with positions of the traveling rails (a height of the conveyed support). Such strict adjustment causes difficult installation of the deflection drum.
Unfortunately, in the inheritance (transfer) of the support traveling on the traveling rails by the deflection drum (rotating body), the engaging portion (groove) of the support is caused to engage with the conveyor flange of the deflection drum. The engagement thus generates friction between the engaging portion (groove) of the support and the conveyor flange (deflection drum), in the transfer of the conveyance unit to the deflection drum.